Menorah to stay up in downtown Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC - (WECT) - The menorah was lit in downtown Wilmington on Sunday night. Although it is normally taken down after the ceremony, this year it will stay up for the full eight nights of Chanukah.

"It's important that if we have a menorah up we have it up for the full eight days of the holiday," said Rabbi
Moshe Y. Lieblich. Each night as Jewish families light an additional candle, an additional light will turn on, on the downtown menorah.

"It just took time, but I think people realize it's a good thing and it's the right thing," said Rabbi Lieblich. He started working with city leaders in January, to see if the menorah could stay up.

"We'd never really been asked about it in the past," said Mayor Bill Saffo. "There were concerns about how we would maintain it and what we would do if somebody came over there to do something with it." He says councilors looked at policies other cities, before giving the ok.

"I'm thrilled that it happened and the fact that we were part of it is wonderful," said Rabbi Lieblich. He says the symbol will benefit the Jewish community and the City of Wilmington.